Before Baywatch, David Hasselhoff was best known for starring in Knight Rider and having the coolest car imaginable. The action crime drama series ran for four seasons on NBC (and might be getting a movie). Now, nearly 40 years after the show went off the air, fans are treated to the release of the Knight Rider: The Complete Series 4K set. Sadly, while not a complete misfire, this isn’t the home run of a home release that you’d hope for.
“Shift into high gear as all four seasons of Knight Rider come together in one action-packed collection! David Hasselhoff is charismatic crimefighter Michael Knight, the driver of the world’s most dynamic, high-tech talking car, K.I.T.T. As this brave duo take on criminals, crooks and those eager to exploit K.I.T.T.’s impressive technology for their own evil purposes, you’ll be blown away by their explosive adventures that set the standard for all TV action series to come,” says the official description.
The Knight Rider: The Complete Series 4K set features a new scan and has full HDR10 support. This provides some great black levels, and the series has never looked better from a color perspective. However, the major issue here is that they tried to shove five episodes onto each disc, which resulted in a very compressed image with artifacting. It’s a shame since it really does look nice otherwise, but it can really ruin some of the action scenes.
As for the show itself, Knight Rider is still a lot of fun. The opening theme is still incredible, there’s some great action and car stunts, and Hasselhoff’s sense of humor really shines. It’s an easy watch, although a lot of the music has been replaced by generic music. This brings down the experience a bit, but given the licensing cost and the fact that they used a lot of legally dubious sound-alike songs, it makes sense.
On the brighter side, the Knight Rider: The Complete Series 4K set features some solid bonus features. In fact, there’s a new hourlong documentary called Knight Rider: Behind the Wheel. While sadly Hasselhoff doesn’t reminisce, we do get to see Rebecca Holden and several members of the production. It features some great behind-the-scenes footage and stories. There’s also a commentary track for the pilot episode, plus some SD featurettes and the 1991 movie Knight Rider 2000 (sadly, also in SD) included across the discs.
Knight Rider: The Complete Series 4K Review: Final Verdict
Die-hard fans will still find a lot to enjoy about the Knight Rider: The Complete Series 4K set, but the compression issue is a major drawback. The new documentary is great, and it’s cool to include Knight Rider 2000 as well, but this could’ve been a great release had it been split across more discs with less compression.
Disclosure: ComingSoon received product from the distributor for our Knight Rider: The Complete Series 4K review.
